Choose by the view, not the brochure
Western shore: a short drive or boat ride from the old city, but you won't wander out of the gate into a bazaar.
Inside the City Palace: steps from Jagdish Temple and the lanes, but you hear the city around you.
On the island: silence, at the price of a boat every time you want to go anywhere.
- On the island
- Taj Lake Palace
- Western shore
- Udaivilas, The Leela, Trident
- City Palace
- Shiv Niwas, Fateh Prakash
- On the ghats
- Small haveli hotels
- Beyond the centre
- Raffles, Taj Aravali, Devigarh
- Out of town: space and calm, with a longer drive to the sights.
- None is wrong: they suit different travellers.
- Question one: how many nights do you have? If it is two, stay central.
- Question two: will you be sightseeing all day, or should the hotel be the destination?
- Question three: what matters more, history in the walls or modern comfort and space?
- The city outside: our main Udaipur guide explains what these hotels look out on.
The palace on the water
- Built
- 1743-46, as Jag Niwas
- Built for
- Maharana Jagat Singh II
- A hotel since
- The 1960s; Taj-managed from 1971
- On screen
- Octopussy, 1983
- Reached by
- The hotel's own boats
Taj Lake Palace
A summer palace: white marble rooms open to the breeze off the lake, built to escape the heat of the city.
Becoming a hotel: Maharana Bhagwat Singh converted it in the 1960s, and in 1971 the Taj group took over its management.
World fame: it appeared in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy.
- Who may land: hotel guests, and outside diners only when the hotel accepts them, which is the source of its magic.
- Evenings: when the last boat of diners has crossed, the palace is utterly still, with fountains, lily ponds and the City Palace lit across the water.
- Breakfast: with the shutters open and the lake flat calm, something guests remember for years.
- Who it suits: couples above all, and anyone who wants the hotel itself to be the high point.
- Less suited to: those who like to step out and explore on foot, since every outing starts with a boat.
- Rooms vary: it is a historic palace, not a purpose-built hotel, so ask for a room facing the lake rather than an inner courtyard.
The great resorts of the western shore
The Oberoi Udaivilas
Opened: in the early 2000s, on lakeside land once part of the Maharanas' hunting grounds.
The style: built new in the language of a Mewar palace, with domes, courtyards, fountains and long arcades.
- Quiet even when full: rooms are spread in low wings, and peacocks walk the lawns.
- Rooms: many look over the lake or gardens, and some have semi-private pools along the waterfront.
- Service and spa: the staff are famously attentive, and the spa is one of the finest in India.
- A large site: expect to walk a fair distance to the restaurants, which most guests enjoy.
- Choose it for: a complete retreat, service over history, or a special occasion. It suits honeymooners and families with older children.
- Location: a short drive to the old city, though it feels a world away. Ask us about rooms facing the City Palace.
The Leela Palace Udaipur
Beside Udaivilas: on the shore of Pichola, with a grander, more formal approach.
Inside: marble, chandeliers, paintings and silver in the public rooms.
- The view: lake-facing rooms look straight at the City Palace and the Lake Palace.
- Compact: more so than its neighbour, so everything is close at hand.
- Who it suits: travellers who want a hotel to feel like a palace, with dressed-up dinners and a sense of occasion.
- Celebrations: a favourite for weddings, so some winter weekends feel lively.
- Our experience: we have found the staff warm and the dining excellent. Ask for a lake-facing room for the classic view from your bed.
Trident Udaipur
Same shore, same group: the Trident belongs to the same group as Udaivilas, among wide gardens beside the lake.
- Simpler and calmer: gentler on the budget, with comfortable rooms and the same good service standards.
- Who it suits: families, longer stays and travellers who would rather spend on private guides and boats than a grand suite.
- Honest about itself: it is not a palace, and does not pretend to be.
Sleeping inside the City Palace
In the middle of history: both stand within the City Palace complex on the eastern shore of Pichola.
- Where
- City Palace complex, eastern shore
- Shiv Niwas
- Run by the family's own hotel group
- Fateh Prakash
- Now trades under the Taj name
- Walk to
- Jagdish Temple, Gangaur Ghat, bazaars
- Best for
- A first visit
- Walkable: a short walk from Jagdish Temple, Gangaur Ghat and the bazaars.
- A great house: both have lake views from some rooms and are full of the family's furniture, portraits and paintings, feeling more like a great house than a resort.
Shiv Niwas Palace
Built for royal guests: it curves in a crescent around a marble courtyard and pool, with the lake and the Lake Palace beyond.
The suites: period furniture, coloured glass and old photographs, and the grandest have views over the water.
- Old-world: gracious, with staff who have often worked here for many years.
- Who it suits: history lovers who want to walk into the old city, and those who prefer character to polish.
- Ask about suites: rooms vary a good deal.
- Breakfast: by the courtyard pool with the palace towers above you.
Fateh Prakash Palace
Built: for Maharana Fateh Singh in the early twentieth century.
The Durbar Hall: where the court once gathered.
- The Crystal Gallery: above it, the famous English crystal furniture ordered by Maharana Sajjan Singh.
- Rooms: look over the lake or the palace, and some are compact, so ask which have the lake outside the window.
- Tea on the terrace: one of the loveliest places in the city in the late afternoon.
- Who it suits: those who want the palace galleries a few steps from the door. It is smaller and more intimate than Shiv Niwas.
Islands, foothills and hill palaces beyond the centre
Raffles Udaipur
Opened: in 2021, on a private island of about 21 acres in Udai Sagar, a large lake east of the city.
The feel: a new building like a grand country house, with formal gardens, a long pool and calm rooms over the water.
- Most secluded: of Udaipur's top hotels, far from the old city's bustle.
- Who it suits: couples wanting privacy, repeat visitors, and anyone who wants a retreat rather than a base.
- Plan your outings: the drive to the old city takes a while, so do one or two long trips rather than many short ones.
- Sunset: spectacular over Udai Sagar on a clear evening.
Taj Aravali Resort and Spa
Opened: at the end of 2018, in the Aravalli foothills on the edge of the city.
Rooms: rooms, suites and luxury tents facing the hills rather than a lake.
- Relaxed and modern: with a large pool and a spa.
- Who it suits: families and travellers wanting space and good value at a high standard.
- A resort first: you drive into the city for every sight.
RAAS Devigarh
Where: about 30 kilometres north, in the village of Delwara.
What it was: an eighteenth-century hill palace of the local nobles, restored as a strikingly modern hotel.
- Inside: pale marble and clean lines with little ornament, inside thick old walls, with views over the Aravallis and the village.
- Unlike the rest: it feels nothing like the other hotels on this page.
- Who it suits: design lovers, those wanting calm, and anyone heading on to Eklingji, Nathdwara or Kumbhalgarh.
- A lovely shape: two nights in Udaipur, then one or two at Devigarh: the lake city first, then the hills.
Small haveli hotels on the ghats
What a haveli is: a traditional townhouse built around one or more inner courtyards.
They vary enormously: the best have painted walls, jharokha windows over the water and a rooftop restaurant facing the palace. Others are guest houses with a view and little else.
- Where
- Lal Ghat, Gangaur Ghat, Hanuman Ghat, Ambrai
- Best of them
- Family-run, carefully restored
- Trade-offs
- Small rooms, steep stairs, maybe no lift
- Access
- Cars can't always reach the door
- In the life of the city: you wake to temple bells and washing on the ghats, and walk to the City Palace in minutes.
- The cost: small rooms, steep stairs, no lift in some, and noisy lanes outside.
- Luggage: may be carried in from where the car stops.
- Who it suits: travellers who love character over comfort and are happy with simpler service.
- Only houses we know: quality changes with management, so we suggest only havelis we have stayed in recently, and tell you honestly what to expect.
- Read more: our guides to heritage havelis and what a haveli is.
Heritage hotels within a drive of Udaipur
- RAAS Devigarh
- About 30 km north, at Delwara
- Deogarh Mahal
- About 2.5 hours north
- Udai Bilas Palace
- About 2 hours south, at Dungarpur
- Castle Bijaipur
- About an hour from Chittorgarh
- Rawla Narlai
- Between Ranakpur and Jawai
Deogarh Mahal
Where: a seventeenth-century palace above the small town of Deogarh, about two and a half hours north.
- Who runs it: the family whose ancestors were among the great nobles of Mewar.
- What's there: painted rooms, a lake and countryside drives.
- A natural stop: on the way to or from Jaipur. Read about Deogarh.
Rawla Narlai
Where: the village of Narlai, between Ranakpur and Jawai, below a great granite rock.
- Its signature: dinners by lamplight at a stepwell.
- Who it suits: travellers driving from Udaipur to Jodhpur via Ranakpur.
Udai Bilas Palace, Dungarpur
Where: about two hours south of Udaipur, the lakeside palace of the Dungarpur royal family.
- Still a home: with remarkable carved stone pavilions and an unhurried feel.
- Few make it here: part of its charm. Read about Dungarpur.
Castle Bijaipur and SUJÁN Jawai
Castle Bijaipur: a sixteenth-century castle about an hour from Chittorgarh, our favourite base for the old capital.
- SUJÁN Jawai: to the north-west, a luxury tented camp in leopard country among granite hills.
- Pairing: both go beautifully with a few nights in Udaipur.
Heritage palace or modern resort?
True heritage: built as a royal residence and later converted. You sleep where kings and their guests slept, under painted ceilings among old furniture.
The trade-off: no two rooms alike, some smaller or darker than expected, bathrooms fitted into old walls, and long, uneven corridors.
Access: lifts and step-free routes may be limited.
- Heritage palace
- Lake Palace, Shiv Niwas, Fateh Prakash
- Modern palace resort
- Udaivilas, The Leela, Raffles
- Countryside palace
- Devigarh, Deogarh
- Our tip
- Split your stay between two
- Worth it: for many guests, the history outweighs all of that.
- Modern palace-style: built new in the traditional style, with domes, courtyards and craftsmanship plus generous rooms, modern bathrooms, spas and consistent standards.
- What it can't give: age.
- Split your stay: many guests take two nights in a heritage palace and two in a resort.
- A third way: restored hill palaces and castles in the countryside combine real history with a relaxed setting.
- Read more: our page on palace hotels and our journal on heritage hotels explained.
Choosing a hotel by season
Winter: the classic season, when you can sit out on a terrace late into the night. Every hotel is at its best, and every hotel is busy.
Wedding weekends: from November to February, popular hotels can be fully booked, so we check dates before choosing.
- October to March
- Terraces and outdoor dinners
- April to June
- A large pool and shaded gardens
- July to September
- A terrace to watch the rain
- Christmas, New Year
- Book months ahead
- The hot months: choose a hotel with a large pool and shaded gardens, and plan outings for early morning and evening. Udaivilas, the Trident and Taj Aravali all suit this rhythm.
- The monsoon: a lake-view suite with the clouds rolling over the hills is as romantic as Udaipur gets, and the grand hotels often offer their best prices.
- Devigarh in the rains: a night in the hills with storms over the Aravallis is unforgettable.
- Shoulder weeks: early October and late March bring good weather, fewer people and better rates.
Rooms, views and small requests
Water outside: lake-view rooms cost more almost everywhere, and in Udaipur they are worth it.
Western shore resorts: a view across Pichola to the City Palace, which lights up beautifully after dark.
- The Lake Palace: a room facing out over the lake rather than into a courtyard.
- City Palace hotels: a suite rather than a standard room, because the suites hold most of the character.
- In the monsoon: a terrace or covered balcony, so you can sit out and watch the rain.
- Late checkout: on your last day, for a final sunset boat before your flight or drive.
- Quiet dates: if you want calm, we check whether a large wedding is booked at your hotel during your stay.
Enjoying the great hotels without sleeping in them
Borrow the others: choose one hotel for its rooms, and borrow the rest for an evening each.
Lake Palace dinner: whether non-residents can book has changed over the years, so we check the current policy. When it is possible, you cross by its boat at dusk and see its courtyards lit.
Fateh Prakash tea: on the terrace after a morning in the City Palace museum.
- Jag Mandir lunch: a long one, then stay on for the sunset.
- Book early: each needs a reservation, and in winter the best tables go early, so we book them with your room.
- Spas: several big hotels open their treatment rooms to non-residents when they have space, so you can stay on the ghats and still spend an afternoon at a resort spa.
- Ask us: spa availability changes with the season. Our spa and Ayurveda page explains the traditional treatments.
- Wedding season: between November and February many grand hotels host large celebrations, with music, fireworks over the lake and hundreds of guests.
- If you want silence: a wedding next to your room can change your stay, so we always check before booking.
- Your own celebration: our team plans destination weddings across the city.
An honest word on what money buys here
Peak weeks: prices rise sharply in the peak winter weeks, especially around Christmas and New Year, and on big wedding dates.
Flexible dates: the same room in the monsoon or early October can cost much less, and the city is quieter and greener. Our best time to visit Udaipur guide goes month by month.
- Highest
- Christmas, New Year, big wedding dates
- Lower
- The monsoon and early October
- Shoulder seasons
- Some of the most beautiful times
- Worth paying for
- The view, a private guide, a private boat
- What the grand hotels give: space, silence, superb service, and a boat or car waiting when you need it.
- What costs nothing: dawn on the ghats, the walk across the Chandpole bridge, chai at Ambrai Ghat as the palace lights come on.
- Spend on three things: the room and view where you spend the most time, a private guide and a private boat.
- On a budget: a beautiful room at the Trident or a good haveli, plus one special dinner at Jag Mandir, or at the Lake Palace if the current policy allows, gives much of the magic for a fraction of the cost.
- Planning around a budget: our guide to the cost of luxury travel in Rajasthan.
Our quick matches
Honeymoon or proposal: the Taj Lake Palace, or Udaivilas with a lake-facing pool.
First visit, two nights: Shiv Niwas or Fateh Prakash, for the walkable old city.
- Families with children: Udaivilas, the Trident or Taj Aravali, for space, gardens and pools.
- Privacy and complete calm: Raffles Udaipur, on its own island in Udai Sagar.
- Grand occasions: The Leela Palace, or a palace courtyard for your own event.
- Design lovers and repeat visitors: RAAS Devigarh in the hills at Delwara.
- Character over comfort: a carefully chosen haveli on the ghats.
- A wider Mewar journey: Udaipur plus Deogarh, Castle Bijaipur or Rawla Narlai. See our Mewar Lakes and Temples journey.
